Blog

Overview

Thirty distinguished women and men, three energy ministers, and eight governments launched the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) women’s initiative at the first Clean Energy Ministerial in 2010 to advance women’s participation in the clean energy revolution. Their motivation was a shared sense that the ideas and talents of all members of society are essential to accelerating progress toward a clean energy future.

C3E works to shift the status quo in the clean energy professions and enable greater gender diversity. Women hold only a small percentage of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs, and women are largely absent from C-level positions and board memberships. While the exact numbers vary among countries and within sectors of clean energy (e.g., technology, policy, and investment), it is clear that more could be done to take advantage of women’s potential contributions.

Gender diversity can drive innovation, open new pathways for technology deployment, bring fresh perspectives in leading communities toward cleaner sources of power, attract and retain a diverse pool of talent, and boost the bottom line; studies show that organizations’ outcomes qualitatively improve when the leadership is composed of at least 30% of each gender.

C3E participating governments have a shared commitment to advancing women in the energy field in their home-country contexts. They undertake meaningful activities to build opportunities for greater female influence and close the gender gap, cross-linking their efforts whenever possible.

C3E is advancing women’s leadership in clean energy and helping to harness all talent in driving the clean energy revolution forward. Launched as a network of national-level actions, C3E is advancing women’s leadership in clean energy globally through an International C3E Ambassador Corps and the online community forum C3Enet.org.

Key Accomplishment

To date, 11 CEM governments have named a total of 61 C3E Ambassadors; more than 1100 women have become members of C3Enet.org; and in the first five years of the U.S. C3E program, 37 mid-career women have been recognized with C3E Awards for their accomplishments and leadership in the sector, as well as 5 lifetime achievement honorees.

Goals

Inspire women around clean energy issues in order to attract more young women to these important careers and support their advancement into leadership positions. Each participating government will develop a nationally appropriate program of action and build on existing programs to sustain its commitment within C3E.

Expand the international C3E Ambassador Corps, made up of senior executives, academics, and thought leaders nominated by CEM partner governments to act as role models and advocates for women in clean energy and to support national C3E efforts.

Connect women in clean energy from around the globe using social media. C3Enet.org provides a community without national boundaries, where women can share ideas and events and exchange views about clean energy issues. You can also follow C3E on Twitter (@C3E_EnergyWomen).